The invention concerns an apparatus for examining carcasses with an ultrasound transducer by means of ultrasound, an ultrasound transducer being adapted to come into contact with the surface of a carcass.
The ultrasound transducer in such an apparatus has one or more transducer elements which transmit an ultrasound signal in a known manner whose frequency is typically in the MHz range, and when a transducer element is in contact with a body (e.g. the body of a human or a carcass), the ultrasound signal propagates in the body, where inhomogeneities reflect part of the energy in the ultrasound signal, and part of the reflected energy is received and detected by the transducer element which transmitted the signal, or by other transducer elements which convert the received signal to an electric signal which is processed in a known manner in an apparatus with which the ultrasound transducer is connected. Information on the structures of the body along the propagation path of the ultrasound signals in the body can be derived from the received signals. Information on the internal structures of the body along a plurality of propagation paths can be obtained by moving the ultrasound transducer across the surface of the body in a known manner, and these items of information can be combined in a known manner to two-dimensional images which represent the internal structures of the body.
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for examining carcases by means of ultrasound with a view to obtaining such information as can form the basis for i.a. grading of carcasses. Carcasses are traditionally graded on the basis of amount of meat, distribution of meat and fat, etc.
Devices for grading of carcasses are known wherein probes are inserted at well-defined locations on the surface of the carcasses, the distribution of meat and fat in the insertion direction of the probe being measured in these positions. This requires rather comprehensive and expensive equipment, which just gives measurements in a limited number of positions, causing grading unreliability. Owing to the vulnerability of the probes it is inexpedient and expensive to measure in a large number of positions with such equipment.
The following patent publications teach the use of ultrasound for examination of carcasses: DK 4965/77, DE-A-3 315 513, FR-A-2 545 010, GB-A-2 213 263, U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,764, U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,817 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,951. These known devices moreover use either a movable ultrasound transducer which is moved across the surface of a carcass manually or automatically, or use transducers in a water bath in which the carcass is immersed. However, all the devices described in these are either considerably more complicated or more inaccurate than the apparatus of the present invention.
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for examining carcasses with a view to i.a. grading of the carcasses. The apparatus is to be compact and sturdy and to be capable of being mounted on most slaughter lines without significant changes in these.